Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1887-02-07
Man and the Wild Animal.

Those who have carefully observed
the management Of wild animals in
menegeries, geological gardens, and
in the pens of the animal dealers,
must, at times, have been astonish-
ed at the ease with which hired men,
comparatively unarmed, subdue
beasts which we have been taught
yield only TO the blazing rife, and
fight gamely until death. A lion es-
capes from his cage, and crouches al
the darkened end of the menagerie.
Remembering the stories we have
read of the ferocity Of this beast and
of the terrible scenes at the lion hunt,
we can imagine only one mode Of ac-
ton. The keepers should arm them
selves with rifles, hide behind barri-
ers, and open a rapid fire upon him.
To our surprise, they simply wheel a
great cage up to him, fall upon him
with clubs, and thrash away until he
enters it.
A few weeks ago, an anaconda
seventeen feet long broke away while
being carried across a public park in
New York city. With vivid pictures
of the exploits of this reptile in the
Amazon watershed before our ewes,
we expected TO see him fall upon the
nearest human being, infold him in
his coils, and crush him 10 a jelly.
Surely, it will take armed and reso-
lutte men to capture him No: on
the contrary, this is not required
and it must have been with a feeling
akin to disappointment that those
who had read of the anaconda saw
one man, armed only with a blanket,
advance and seize him hy the throat,
while two others, also unarmed,
grasped his tail, and then the trio,
still holding on, carry him through
the streets and thrust him back into
the den whence he had been taken.
Not long since, the writer saw Mr..
Thomson, a dealer in live animals,
open a box containing an anaconda,
quite as long ar this one, take the
reptile by the throat, and calmly ex-
anime his mouth, opened though la
rage, to look for cancerous humOrs.
Then from adjoining shelves be took
python after python, each about ten
feet long, and examined them in like
manner, Only last week, at the place
OF another dealer, (Reiche), a big,
powerful Syrian bear, "a type known
for its ferocity, was subdued without
the firing Of a shot. The bear broke
through iron bars half an inch thick,
and standing up with his back against
a cage Of monkeys, thrust his terrible
paws threatenlngly toward three keep
ers gathered about him. lie didn't
have time 10 use them, however, for
he was belabored with clubs until
glad TO get back again into his cage.
On pedestal near the gate of the
Cincinnati geological gardens, there
recently stood the stuffed figure ~ a
donkey which, when alive, withstOOd
the attack Of a lion and beat him on
The lion, il seems, had broken out ~
his cage and escaped 10 "A wood near
by. On a grassy hillock adjoining,
a donkey lay stretched la placid
slumber-a slumber that was rudely
disturbed hy the lion, who, ia . few
bounds was upon him. When the
donkey felt the great mass ~ flesh
descend upon him az II from the
clouds. he was stunned and indig-
nant. but not frightened, perhaps be-
cause he bad never read any 0f ths
wonderful storie. about the lion. lie
quickly recovered from the blow, aud.
rising, shot out both hind feet a. the
same time. aud caught the lion
squarely in the forehead. Badly hurt,
the lion skulked OF, aud later the
donkey died Of the wound received
at the onset.
Take = @ose 9fDs. Belle haltilarr rfIi- ii 500